Hand-held controllers for virtual reality system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9921642-B2
Application number	US-201715610436-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2017
Priority date	Jun 3, 2015
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 20, 2018

Abstract

A hand-held controller includes a user-input surface, a grip coupled to the user-input surface, and a cage coupled to the user-input surface at two points without the grip interposed between the user-input surface and the cage. The hand-held controller includes may further include a plurality of illumination sources on an outer surface of the cage.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hand-held controller, comprising:
a user-input surface;
a grip coupled to the user-input surface; and
a cage coupled to the user-input surface at two points without the grip interposed therebetween.

2. The hand-held controller of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of illumination sources on an outer surface of the cage.

3. The hand-held controller of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of illumination sources comprises a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

4. The hand-held controller of claim 3 , further comprising a power source to supply power to the user-input surface and the plurality of LEDs.

5. The hand-held controller of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of illumination sources comprises a plurality of passive reflectors.

6. The hand-held controller of claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of illumination sources are positioned to be visible to a forward-looking camera on a head-mounted display worn by a user when the user holds the grip in a neutral position.

7. The hand-held controller of claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of illumination sources are positioned to face away from the user when the user holds the grip in the neutral position.

8. The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the user-input surface includes a first user-input key.

9. The hand-held controller of claim 8 , wherein the first user-input key is one of a thumbstick, a button, a trigger, or a directional pad.

10. The hand-held controller of claim 9 , wherein the first user-input key is a button selected from the group consisting of an A or X button, a B or Y button, a start button, a back button, a forward button, and a home button.

11. The hand-held controller of claim 8 , wherein:
the user-input surface comprises a plurality of user-input keys including the first user-input key; and
the plurality of user-input keys includes at least one of a thumbstick, a button, a trigger, or a directional pad.

12. The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the cage has a ring shape.

13. The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the grip is integrally formed with the user-input surface.

14. The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the grip is slanted at an angle with respect to the user-input surface.

15. The hand-held controller of claim 1 , further comprising a structural web coupling the cage to the user-input surface.

16. The hand-held controller of claim 15 , further comprising a trigger mounted in the structural web.

17. The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the cage is configured to be positioned above a user's hand when the user holds the grip in a neutral position.

18. The hand-held controller of claim 1 , wherein the cage is detachably coupled to the user-input surface through a slidable engagement.

Assignees

• Oculus Vr Llc

Inventors

• Webb James S
• Rogoza Benjamin E Tunberg
• Bristol Peter Wesley
• Higgins Jason Andrew
• Talati Sharvil Shailesh
• Chen Yi-Yaun
• Konzen Neil Warren

Classifications

• G06F3/0488

  using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures · CPC title

• G02B2027/0156

  with optionally usable elements · CPC title

• G02B2027/0138

  comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera · CPC title

• G02B2027/0132

  comprising binocular systems · CPC title

• G02B2027/0178

  Eyeglass type (eyeglass details G02C) · CPC title